


Like Ships Without Anchors

by phizzwizards



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 12:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12531288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phizzwizards/pseuds/phizzwizards
Summary: Kevin's lonely. Archie's lonely too.It's been weeks since Kevin and Betty fell out and they still aren't talking. When Kevin sees Veronica breaking up with Archie, he takes pity and invites Archie to hang out with him. Archie decides they should keep hanging out. They both stop feeling quite so lonely.





	Like Ships Without Anchors

**Author's Note:**

> This is all Jen's fault.

Weeks had passed without any sightings of the man in the black hood. That should have been good news but it only meant everyone was more on edge, waiting for the next attack.

It had also been weeks since Betty and Kevin had fought about his “nighttime runs” in the woods. Kevin had promised his dad that night that he wouldn’t go out there again and it was a promise he intended to keep, at least until the man in the hood had been caught, but Betty still hadn’t apologised and even though he and his dad were talking more, Kevin was feeling lonelier than ever.

He had hoped the knock on the door might be Betty, come to apologise at last. He had been so mad at her, for not understanding, for not listening, and most of all for running to his dad. Even so, he missed his friend. All she had to say was sorry and he would have forgiven her immediately. But it wasn’t Betty’s blonde ponytail he could see through the frosted glass window in the front door, but the bright red hair of Archie Andrews.

‘Hey, Kev.’ Archie looked nervous. ‘Is your dad home?’ Of course he was there to speak to Kevin’s dad. No one wanted to talk to him anymore. 

‘Yeah. I’ll go get him.’ 

‘No,’ Archie said, quickly. ‘I mean, it’s okay. I don’t want to disturb him. Can you just let him know that Reggie and I are going to be patrolling tonight?’

Right. Kevin had forgotten all about Archie’s renewed attempts to get the sheriff to accept his vigilante group. Normally, they left word at the station so Kevin’s dad would know who was patrolling each night. There must have been a change of plans tonight. He could see the headlights of Reggie’s car idling in the road.

‘Sure. I’ll tell him.’

‘Thanks, man.’ Archie smiled that Hollywood smile of his and jogged back to the car, ready to go and save the world. Kevin closed the front door and walked to his dad’s office, his old socks snagging on the wooden floor as he went.

‘Who was at the door?’ his dad asked, glancing up from the files he was looking over at his desk.

Kevin leant against the door frame. ‘Archie. He told me to tell you that he and Reggie are patrolling tonight.’

Sheriff Keller groaned and rubbed at his eyes with one hand. ‘What am I going to do about that boy?’

‘He’s just trying to help,’ Kevin said. ‘They all are.’

‘They’re just kids.’ It was the same exasperated sentence Kevin had heard a dozen times since Archie had started the Red Circle. ‘It’s only a matter of time before one of them gets themselves hurt. But why would anyone listen to me? It’s only my job to keep this town safe.’ Sheriff Keller sighed and closed the file in front of him. ‘I’ve gotta go and talk to someone about this. Sorry, Kev. We’ll hang out tomorrow night, okay?’ He stood from his desk, shrugged on his jacket, and clapped Kevin on the shoulder on his way past. 

Kevin was still leaning against the doorframe when he heard the front door click closed.

Great. Now he couldn’t even get his dad to stay in and watch a movie with him.

‘Guess I’ll just have an early night then,’ he said aloud to the empty house.

-

Finally, a few days later, Kevin managed to persuade his dad to take a night off. They were going to get burgers from Pop’s and watch some dumb action movie at home and try not to think about the murderer still roaming the streets. It was pitiful how much Kevin was looking forward to it.

They were waiting at the counter for their burgers when Kevin noticed Veronica and Archie sat in one of the booths. He was about to go over and say hi when he caught the look on Archie’s face and thought better of it. Archie was frowning down at the table, and though Kevin could only see the back of Veronica’s head he could tell that she was trying to get Archie to meet her eye.

Kevin knew he shouldn’t be trying to eavesdrop but there weren’t many people in the diner and Veronica was talking so quietly that he couldn’t really hear much anyway. Just something about her dad. Then something about timing. She reached out her hand, trying to take Archie’s, but Archie pulled his hand away. When he looked up at her finally, his eyes were shiny with tears. 

Kevin realised with a start that Veronica was breaking up with Archie.

He pulled his eyes away, feeling ashamed that he had accidentally intruded on something so personal. He turned his back on Archie and Veronica, hoping they were too caught up in their own drama to notice him standing there. He didn’t need anyone else having reason to avoid him.

Kevin heard the unmistakable clicking of Veronica’s heels on the floor behind him and the sound of the door opening and closing before he turned back to see Archie still sat at the booth, still staring down at the table. He looked as pathetic as Kevin felt.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Kevin said to his dad before he could change his mind. ‘Just gonna say hi to Archie.’ His dad grumbled something behind him but Kevin was already half way to Archie’s table. ‘Hey,’ he said, sliding into the seat Veronica had just vacated.

‘What?’ Archie shook his head a little, blinking at Kevin across the table, like it took him a second to recognise him. ‘Oh. Hi, Kev.’ 

‘Everything okay?’ Kevin asked.

Archie cleared his throat. He was obviously holding back tears. ‘Veronica just broke up with me.’

‘I guessed,’ Kevin admitted.

‘She said things are too intense with her dad right now and it isn’t the right time.’ Kevin nodded. Archie’s phone buzzed against the tabletop. They both glanced down at the alert, both expecting it to be Veronica. ‘Crap,’ Archie said. ‘It’s Reggie. We’re supposed to be on patrol tonight.’

‘Archie, you can’t.’ Kevin thought about everything his dad had said. If Archie was ever likely to do something reckless that might get himself hurt, the night his girlfriend had dumped him would be a prime time for it. ‘You’re upset. If you go out there tonight you’ll just be thinking about Veronica the whole time. You can’t help anyone if you’re distracted like that.’

Archie nodded. ‘You’re right.’ He typed something back to Reggie and then put the phone face down on the table between them. ‘One of the other guys’ll go with him.’ Archie turned to face the window. The pink and blue lights of the diner bounced off his face, doing nothing but highlighting how sad he looked. ‘Guess I’ll just go home.’

‘Or,’ Kevin said, taking pity. ‘You could come back with us. Watch a stupid action movie, eat burgers, remind my dad that you’re not just a reckless jock out to undermine his job.’

Archie’s gaze whipped around to Kevin’s dad, still waiting at the counter. ‘Does he really think that?’ he asked.

Kevin shrugged. ’Kind of.’

Archie looked back at Kevin. One corner of his mouth twitched up in a half-hearted smile. No Hollywood teeth tonight. ‘I don’t think I’d be very good company.’

Kevin rolled his eyes. ‘To sit in our living room and eat a burger while Vin Diesel blows stuff up? Come on.’ He slid out of the booth and stood there, arms crossed, until Archie did the same.

‘Thanks, man,’ Archie said, flashing Kevin the briefest real smile as they headed back to the counter. It was enough to make Kevin glad that he had interrupted his evening with his dad.

-

Kevin had been a little worried that his dad might try and bring up the Red Circle with Archie but he seemed to have realised that Archie just needed to watch Vin Diesel beat up bad guys in peace for a couple of hours. If he was thinking about the Red Circle while they watched the movie, he kept it to himself, which Kevin was eternally grateful for.

The credits rolled and Sheriff Keller made to pick up their plates and the boxes from Pop’s, but Archie leapt up from where he had been sat cross-legged on the floor and got to them first.

‘Let me do that, Sheriff Keller,’ he said, pilling the plates on top of each other.

‘That’s alright, Archie, you don’t have to.’

‘I don’t mind.’ Archie already had everything stacked and was half way to the kitchen before Kevin’s dad sat back down.

‘I know what you’re doing,’ he said. Kevin turned off the TV and refused to look anywhere near where his dad was sitting.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘You don’t have to prove to me that Archie is a good kid. I’ve known him his whole life. I’ve known most of these Red Circle kids their whole lives. That’s part of the problem. If something happens to any of them on my watch I’m going to have to answer to that and live with it. It’s just too dangerous for anyone to be out there right now. We’re talking about enforcing a curfew.’

‘What?’ Kevin was about to say the same thing but it was Archie who got there first. Kevin turned to see him standing in the doorway, his mouth hanging open in shock. ‘Is this because of the Red Circle?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Kevin said.

‘Partly,’ his dad disagreed. ‘Archie, it’s our job to keep everyone safe and that includes you. When you’re out there looking for this guy, that’s just more people we have to be worried about.’

‘But you don’t have to worry about us,’ Archie argued. ‘We can take care of ourselves and help you take care of everyone else.’

‘I know you think that but the truth is you’re just making our jobs more difficult.’

Archie’s mouth snapped shut. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. ‘I’m sorry you feel that way, sir, but with respect, it’s not going to stop me or any of us from trying to help.' 

Sheriff Keller sighed. ‘Yeah. I figured that out a while ago.’

Archie nodded. ’I should go. Thank you for dinner.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Kevin’s dad said. ‘Any time.’ Kevin shot his dad a look before he followed Archie to the front door. Too little too late.

‘Archie, I’m sorry.’ Archie already had the front door open. Kevin followed him outside.

‘No, it’s okay,’ Archie said, turning back to face Kevin. ‘It’s not like I didn’t already know your dad disapproves of the Red Circle.’

‘Well, if it’s any consolation, after what you did for Ethel I feel a little safer with you guys around. Although if you ever tell my dad I said that I will have to kill you.’

Archie laughed for the first time that evening. Kevin felt a little lighter at the sound of it.

‘Thanks for tonight,’ Archie said. ‘It was good to just chill for a couple of hours.’

Kevin shrugged. ’Things have been pretty intense for everyone recently.’

‘Yeah.’ Archie rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, awkward all of a sudden. ‘I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about something.’

Kevin froze. Archie knew. Was there anyone Betty hadn’t told?

‘Don’t,’ he said, so quietly Archie didn’t even hear it.

‘Look, I know it’s none of my business but Betty told me you’ve been going into the woods-’

‘I haven’t,’ Kevin interrupted. He could feel his face heating up with embarrassment. It had been bad enough talking to his dad about this but somehow Archie knowing was even more humiliating. There was no way someone like Archie would ever understand. ‘I mean, I was,’ Kevin explained quickly, desperate to get out of this conversation as fast as possible. ‘But I’m not anymore.’

‘That’s good,’ Archie said. ‘But if you do-’

‘I won’t.’ Kevin had never wanted the ground to swallow him whole more in his entire life. ‘I already promised my dad, okay? So you do not have to worry about that.’

‘Okay,’ Archie said, kindly, ‘but just, if you do, will you text me?’

‘Excuse me?’ Kevin laughed, uncomfortably. He was so taken aback that he forgot to avoid looking directly at Archie. Archie’s cheeks were glowing bright red in the porch light.

‘Just so that someone knows where you are,’ Archie clarified. ‘I know you can take care of yourself but if something happens then you can call me and I’ll know where to find you. Even if I’m not patrolling, I’ll come, okay? And I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’

Kevin was so surprised at the apparent lack of judgement in Archie’s voice that he just nodded. ‘Yeah,’ he agreed. ‘Okay.’

Archie blew out a breath of relief. ‘Okay.’

‘You really don’t have to worry about it though,’ Kevin said, even though he really didn’t want to. ‘I’m not going to do that again. Not with that guy still out there.’ He scuffed the bottom of his foot against the edge of the porch step, once again diverting his gaze from the person he was talking to. He had noticed it was becoming a habit. ‘I know it would kill my dad if anything happened to me.’

‘Hey.’ Archie laid a hand on Kevin’s shoulder and leaned down to look him in the eye. ‘It would kill me too.’ Kevin rolled his eyes to hide the fact that he kind of wanted to cry.

‘Can we please never talk about this again?’ Kevin asked. Archie grinned. 

‘Sure. See you at school.’

Kevin stood outside and watched Archie until he turned the corner at the end of the street and he couldn’t see him anymore. Then he went back inside and found his dad standing at the end of the hallway.

‘You sure he’s not bisexual or something?’ his dad asked.

‘What?’ Kevin slammed the front door, terrified that Archie would somehow hear all the way down the street. ‘No, Dad!’

‘Well, have you asked him?’

Kevin had been wrong. Now he had never wanted the ground to swallow him whole more.

‘His girlfriend broke up with him two hours ago!’

‘Hey.’ Sheriff Keller shrugged. ‘You’re the one who just spent the evening trying to convince me he’s a good guy. Forgive me for thinking the two of you might be able to keep each other out of trouble.’

‘Oh my God.’ Kevin headed straight for the stairs. His entire face felt like it was on fire. ‘I’m going to bed and you are never going to say anything like that ever again,’ he said, running up the stairs two at a time.

So much for his quiet evening watching Vin Diesel blow stuff up.

-

Things with Betty were just getting worse. Kevin knew that the longer they went without talking to each other, the harder it would be to start again, but it had been weeks now and Betty still hadn’t apologised. And there was no way he was going to talk to her first. If she wanted to make up, she would have to come to him.

The problem was, she didn’t seem to want to make up.

Kevin had hoped at first that Veronica might side with him but she didn’t even seem to have noticed that anything had changed. She still talked to him in the halls and during classes but she still sat with Betty at lunch. Kevin had been skipping lunch the past few weeks, spending it in the library just to avoid having to sit on his own in the lunchroom, but the library was closed today so he was back at one of the plastic lunch tables, poking around a plate of unidentifiable food with a plastic fork.

‘Mind if I sit here?’ Archie asked, putting his own plate of unidentifiable food down across from Kevin. He sat down before Kevin could reply, not that Kevin was going to turn down the chance of some company. ‘Still not talking to Betty?’

‘She still hasn’t apologised,’ Kevin answered, recovering fast from his shock that Archie wanted to sit with him.

‘She was worried about you. You know how she gets.’ Archie stuffed a forkful of food into his mouth. Kevin put down his own fork, giving up the pretence that he had any intention of eating whatever it was in front of him.

‘Archie, I really can’t talk about this again right now.’

‘Sorry.’ Archie said, sincere. ‘I forgot we said we’d never talk about it again.’ 

‘Yes we did,’ Kevin agreed, but he made sure to smile so Archie would know he wasn’t really annoyed.

‘So, I probably didn’t make things any better with your dad last night, did I?’

Kevin involuntarily thought back to the horrifying conversation he and his dad had had after Archie left the night before and immediately wished he hadn’t.

‘I wouldn’t say that.’ Archie didn’t look convinced. ‘He’s worried about you,’ Kevin said, echoing Archie’s own words. ‘You know how he gets.’ Archie rolled his eyes. Kevin’s laugh didn’t last long. It died as he caught sight of Betty, ducking her head down. She had obviously just been looking right at him.

Archie, noticing the drop in Kevin’s mood, followed his gaze. He didn’t say anything about Betty when he turned back around but he looked thoughtful. A look Kevin wasn’t entirely used to seeing on Archie Andrews’s face.

‘That movie we watched yesterday was pretty good,’ Archie said. ‘We should watch the sequel some time.’

‘Sure,’ Kevin agreed, glad to have moved onto safer, if slightly more unusual territory.

‘Maybe you should come to my place instead though,’ Archie suggested. ‘Since my dad doesn’t think you’re a reckless jock out to undermine his job.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think construction is really for me,’ Kevin agreed.

All through his lunch with Archie, Kevin kept glancing over at Betty and Veronica’s table. Like a tick he couldn’t control, every few seconds his eyes would dart over to the two girls and back again. Betty didn’t look over at him again.

-

When Kevin got out of wrestling practice the next day, Archie was waiting for him outside the school. Ordinarily Kevin would never have assumed Archie was waiting for him, but as soon as he stepped out of the front door, Archie waved right at him and smiled.

‘Hey,’ Kevin said, jogging down the steps to where Archie was waiting, his red hair still wet from his post-football-practice shower. ‘What are you doing here?’

Archie shrugged. ‘I thought we could walk home together.’

‘Archie.’ Kevin sighed and threw a glance at the rest of the wrestling team, who were all still hanging around. He grabbed Archie’s arm and used it to steer him away from the team and the school. ‘You don’t have to keep an eye on me all the time, okay? I told you I’m not going anywhere near the woods.’

‘What? No, that’s not why I’m…’ For the second time that week Kevin saw Archie blush. ‘To be honest, I wasn’t really waiting for you,’ he explained. Kevin tried to ignore the fact that he felt a little offended. 'Veronica usually waits for me after football practice and we hang out. I guess I forgot that she wouldn’t be there today.’

Kevin knew the feeling.

‘Betty used to wait for me after wrestling sometimes.’ Kevin started to walk away from the school again. Archie fell into step beside him, grateful.

‘It feels wrong you two not being friends,’ Archie said.

‘She just doesn’t get it,’ Kevin said, exasperated. ‘I’m not really mad that she told my dad, not anymore, but she was so judgemental. She doesn’t get it and she doesn’t want to get it. She’s just so wrapped up in her own teen drama she doesn’t stop for a minute to think that mine might not be exactly the same.’

If someone had told Kevin a week ago that he would be baring his soul to Archie Andrews he would have laughed in their face, but there was something about walking side by side with Archie in the muted light of dusk, not looking at him but knowing nevertheless that Archie wouldn’t be judging him, that made Kevin feel safe.

‘Friends are meant to listen to each other,’ Kevin said, finally. ‘It’s not just supposed to be one friend listening to the other one all the time and getting nothing back.’

Archie was silent for just a beat too long and Kevin started to worry that he had gone too far. ’You and I have known each other just as long as you and Betty have,’ Archie said at last. ‘I don’t think I’ve been a very good friend to you either.’ 

‘No offence, Arch, but you and I were never really as close as me and Betty. Or you and Betty. Or you and Jughead.’

‘That’s no excuse.’ Archie shook his head. ‘We’ve known each other since we were kids. I should have been a better friend.’

Kevin squeezed his eyes shut. This was too much. ‘Archie, don’t try and be friends with me because you feel sorry for me, okay? It’s really depressing.’

‘Feel sorry for you?’ Archie repeated, his voice incredulous. ‘Kevin, Veronica just broke up with me, Jughead goes to a different school now and spends all his spare time with Betty, my ex-girlfriend just got murdered, all the guys on the football team just want to talk about the Red Circle all the time, and my dad is recovering from a gunshot wound. I’m the one who needs a friend.’

Kevin knew he shouldn’t say it but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. ’Was Ms. Grundy really your girlfriend?’ Archie let out a short, unexpected laugh. ‘Sorry.’ Kevin winced.

‘No, it’s fine.’ Kevin chanced a quick look and was relieved to see that Archie didn’t look too pissed off. ‘I just thought you would have already heard all about it from Betty.’

‘I have,’ Kevin admitted. ‘I just didn’t realise it was that serious, I guess.’

Archie ran a hand through his hair. It was starting to dry now at the ends, curling around his ears. ‘It was,’ he said simply.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Thanks.’

They walked for a while in silence.

‘Don’t hide in the library tomorrow,’ Archie said suddenly, his voice quiet, soft. Kevin should have been surprised that Archie had noticed he’d been spending his lunches in the library but he wasn’t. Maybe, after they’d had lunch together the day before, Archie had gone looking for him today and found him in there again. Maybe he was just more observant than Kevin gave him credit for. Either way, Kevin nodded. He wouldn’t hide in the library tomorrow.

-

Kevin and Archie started eating lunch together every day and eventually they both stopped looking over at Betty and Veronica’s table every few minutes. Kevin was surprised by how easily he and Archie got along. They had been friends when they were little kids, sure, but everyone had been. They had just drifted apart as they’d got older, still hanging out together with their other friends but never just the two of them, for no reason other than because they didn’t really have much in common. Except it turned out they did. They liked the same movies and a lot of the same TV shows and music. Archie had never seen a single episode of Drag Race but Kevin couldn’t believe Archie actually liked Coldplay so it evened out.

Other people started to notice, of course. No change in the natural order goes unnoticed for long in high school. Cheryl was the first to mention anything, bombarding Kevin in the hallway like a sweet-smelling, flaming haired, Spanish inquisition. Kevin found himself oddly defensive of his new friendship with Archie and told Cheryl where to go, refusing to answer any of her questions. She smirked and flipped her curtain of shining red hair in his face before clipping away again down the hall in her sky high heels.

‘She always has this look on her face like she knows something,’ Kevin told Archie as they walked back to Kevin’s house after school that day. It had only seemed fair to fill Archie in on Cheryl’s questions, to prepare him for if she launched a similar attack on him tomorrow. ‘Normally I love it but it’s kind of scary when it’s aimed at you.' 

‘Cheryl’s not so bad,’ Archie said. ‘She’s just lonely.’

‘Wouldn’t you be if you grew up in that family?’ Kevin shuddered. Nothing would ever make him more grateful for his own dad than he had felt being in the room with Cheryl’s family at her brother’s funeral. ‘Speaking of which.’ Kevin unlocked his front door and held it open for Archie. ‘How’s your dad doing?’

‘He’s doing good,’ Archie said. He had this smile, Kevin had noticed, that he reserved exclusively for talking about his dad. It was full of worry and pride and so much love it almost hurt just to look at it. ‘He starts work again on Monday.’

‘That’s great,’ Kevin said, really meaning it. He had always liked Archie’s dad, ever since they were kids. Archie nodded, that proud, worried look still on his face. ‘Do you want something to eat?’ Kevin asked. Archie shrugged and followed Kevin into the kitchen. ‘Dad’s working tonight. You can stay for dinner if you want. We could get pizza? Unless you have to patrol tonight?’ Archie shook his head.

‘It’s my day off,’ he said. ‘Pizza sounds good.’

Kevin opened the fridge and took a quick inventory of their sparse snack options. He couldn’t wait until someone caught this murderer and his dad would have time to go to the store again. He closed the fridge, unsatisfied, and tried one of the cupboards instead.

‘Chips or pop-tarts?’ he asked, listing the only two options available.

‘What flavour pop-tarts?’ Archie asked.

Kevin pulled the box out of the cupboard. ‘Unfrosted blueberry.’ Archie scrunched up his nose. Kevin threw the pop-tarts back in the cupboard and grabbed the chips instead. ‘Good choice.’ 

They ate the entire bag of chips while they did their homework together, spread out on Kevin’s bedroom floor. It was dark before they realised it. Archie called his dad to let him know he’d be eating dinner at Kevin’s house and Kevin called to order the pizzas. When he got back to his room, Archie was sat up, his back against the side of Kevin’s bed, stretching his arms high above his head. His eyes were closed and he was wiggling his shoulders a little, as though trying to work out a kink in them. Kevin looked away quickly and cleared his throat so Archie would know he was in the room.

‘Pizzas are on their way,’ he said, sitting down on the edge of his bed, a few feet away from Archie.

‘Great.’ Archie stood up, stretched again, and maddeningly sat back down on the bed, next to Kevin. ‘Hey, Kev, can I ask you something?’ Archie had his serious face on, all drawn eyebrows and frown. It made Kevin nervous.

‘Sure.’

‘Why do you go cruising in the woods?’ Kevin blinked. This was not the kind of question he had expected. ‘You don’t have to tell me,’ Archie added, hurriedly. ‘I know we said we wouldn’t talk about it again, but… I just want to understand, you know?’

Kevin sighed. He wanted Archie to understand. He didn’t want to talk about it but he wanted someone to understand. ‘Being gay in Riverdale is just really lonely,’ he said, simply.

‘But there are other gay guys at our school, right? I mean, there have to be.’

‘None who are out,’ Kevin explained. ‘None who will hold my hand in the halls or cheer at my wrestling matches or take me to Pop’s for milkshakes after school. Yeah, there are other gay guys at our school, but I only know that because they go cruising in the woods too.’

Archie put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin looked up to see that Archie had moved closer, without him realising. They were right next to each other now and Archie was still looking at him with drawn eyebrows, but his frown had softened.

‘You deserve someone who’ll take you to Pop’s,’ Archie said, in that kind, soft voice of his. ‘If those guys aren’t brave enough to cheer at your wrestling matches and hold your hand then they don’t deserve you.’

Kevin didn’t think. One second he was looking back at Archie’s kind, understanding eyes, and the next he was kissing him. The moment he realised what he’d done, was the same moment he realised that Archie wasn’t kissing him back. Kevin sat back, horrified.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, feeling the fire creeping up his face. He didn’t dare look at Archie. He couldn’t bare to see what those kind eyes had become. He had ruined everything. 

‘Don’t be,’ Archie said, his voice so low Kevin wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard him right. Not until Archie’s lips were on his again.

Kevin kissed back instinctively, his body reacting long before his brain could catch up. Archie Andrews was kissing him. He had his arms around Archie Andrews’s neck. Archie Andrews had his hands on Kevin’s waist. Archie Andrews was pushing him back, against the bed. Archie Andrews's strong torso pressed against his own, trapping him on the mattress.

His brain finally caught up and he still couldn’t believe it.

Archie’s hand crept under Kevin’s shirt, hot against his waist. Kevin tugged at Archie’s hair. Archie groaned and kissed him harder, pushed his hand up further to expose more of Kevin’s skin. They were both fully on the bed now, legs entwined in the sheets and each other. There was no hiding the fact that they were both enjoying it. Kevin’s hand moved to Archie’s back, pushing up his shirt, feeling the muscles at the base of his spine.

There was a loud banging at the front door. The boys sprang apart. They were both breathing heavily. Archie’s eyes were practically all pupil and his hair was a mess. Kevin wanted to kiss him again but his heart was beating out of his chest and it wasn’t only because Archie Andrews was hovering above him with his erection pressing into Kevin’s thigh through their pants. There was the banging again.

‘Your dad?’ Archie asked, panicked. He was already looking around the room for something he could use as a weapon in case it wasn’t Kevin’s dad. Kevin shook his head and laughed. Archie looked down at him, confused.

‘It’s the pizza,’ Kevin said. He was embarrassed by how rough his voice sounded but Archie just laughed, dipping his face into Kevin’s shoulder.

‘Right,’ he said, his breath warm against the skin of Kevin’s neck. ‘The pizza.’ Archie rolled over onto his back next to Kevin and threw a hand over his eyes. Kevin slid off the bed and straightened his shirt. Archie didn’t move his hand from his eyes as Kevin grabbed his wallet from his bedside table, but his mouth wasn’t covered, so Kevin could see that he was smiling.

The pizza guy banged on the door again, even louder than before, as Kevin ran down the stairs. This guy was getting a measly tip, he thought as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door.

It wasn’t the pizza guy.

It was Betty.

‘Thank God you’re okay,’ Betty said, flinging herself at Kevin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. ‘Why haven’t you been answering your phone?’ she asked, pulling back again. ‘Never mind. Look, Kevin, I’m so sorry about everything that happened okay? You were right. I did judge you and I shouldn’t have. I promise I’ll try harder to be a better friend in the future. I’m just so glad you’re okay.’

‘Betty, slow down. What happened? Why wouldn’t I be okay?’

‘You haven’t heard?’ Betty stood back, surprised, as Kevin shook his head.

‘Heard what?’

‘There was another attack,’ Betty explained. ‘In the woods. A couple of guys from Southside High.’

‘Another attack?’ Archie’s voice. He must have heard Betty’s panic from Kevin’s room. He was already half way down the stairs.

‘Archie?’ Betty looked from Archie to Kevin and back again. ‘Yeah. No one’s seriously hurt though. They saw him before he could shoot and fought back. It sounds like he might have come out of it worse than they did.’

‘I’ve gotta go,’ Archie said to Kevin.

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Kevin said.

‘Yeah, Archie,’ Betty agreed. ‘The Sheriff’s already down there. There’s nothing else you can do.’

‘I can make sure no one else gets attacked,’ Archie insisted. He shrugged on his jacket and pushed past Betty to the door, but at the last second he seemed to remember something. He turned around and twisted his mouth in a half smile before kissing Kevin square on the lips, right there in front of Betty Cooper. ‘I’ll text you later,’ he said, before darting out of the house and into the night.

Betty’s mouth hung open wide enough to catch birds. ‘What just happened?’ she asked, one thumb pointed disbelievingly back out the open front door.

Kevin wanted to smile, pull Betty into the house, and tell her all about everything that had happened. But it seemed like he maybe finally had what he had always wanted, a high school romance just like the ones Betty got to have, and now he had to worry about Archie getting shot while he was out trying to save everybody else. He finally understood why his dad was so against the Red Circle. 

-

Archie texted that night, just like he promised. At two a.m., he texted. Kevin was still awake, waiting to hear from him. The text just said, ‘Didn’t find anything. Back home now.’ Annoyed and tired, Kevin phoned Archie.

‘Hey,’ Archie said, answering straight away. ‘I didn’t think you’d still be up.’

‘Oh sure. You make out with me and then disappear into the night to chase a murderer but I’m just going to go straight to sleep. Why would I worry at all?’

Archie stifled a laugh. ‘Sorry,’ he said, his voice low. Kevin guessed he was lying in bed, trying not to wake his dad. ‘Did you and Betty make up?’

‘Yeah.’ Kevin rolled over onto his side, pressing the phone between his ear and the pillow. ‘She was pretty surprised,’ he said, suddenly so insecure. He didn’t want to push his luck and ruin things now. ‘You know. With you kissing me and everything.’

‘Good.’ Kevin could hear the laugh in Archie’s voice. ‘Betty needs to be surprised sometimes.’

‘You don’t… you don’t regret it, do you?’ Kevin asked, the dark of two a.m. and Archie’s low, gravelly voice emboldening him to speak his fear.

‘What?’ Archie asked. ‘No. Why would you think that?’

‘Because you’re straight?’

Archie laughed. ‘Well obviously I’m not. I thought that was pretty obvious.’

Kevin laughed too. ‘If you just want to be friends though, that’s okay.’ 

Archie growled, frustrated. ’Kevin I don’t want to be friends, okay? I mean, I do, but I want to hold your hand and take you to Pop’s and cheer for you at your wrestling matches and I want you to cheer for me at my football games and when we win a game I want to run over to the stands and kiss you in front of everyone. Although, not like we kissed tonight. That’s just for when we’re in our bedrooms. Which, by the way, I want to do more of too.’

By the time Archie had finished Kevin’s face was officially the reddest it had ever been and also buried in his pillow.

‘Hello?’ Archie said, after a few moments of silence on Kevin’s side of the phone. ‘Kev? You still there?’

‘I’m still here,’ Kevin croaked. ‘And yes. I want that too. All of that.’

‘Good,’ Archie said.

‘Good,’ Kevin repeated.

They stayed on the phone, silent for a little while longer.

‘Kev,’ Archie said eventually, his voice sleep-heavy. ‘I’m gonna fall asleep.’

‘Me too,’ Kevin said through a yawn.

‘Hey,’ Archie said a minute later. ‘You’re not just… settling for me, are you?’

That woke Kevin up. Who would have thought Archie Andrews could be as insecure as he was. ‘Don’t be an idiot,’ he said. ‘No one settles for a boy who kisses like you, Archie Andrews.’

Archie laughed again. Kevin wished they were lying next to each other but it sounded like Archie was planning for that to happen in the future too. He could wait.

‘Can I take you to Pop’s tomorrow?’ Archie asked.

‘Are you going to take me to the movies too?’ Kevin teased.

‘Anything you want,’ Archie said, his voice serious.

‘Only if you let me bring you back here afterwards.’ Kevin smiled up at his bedroom ceiling. ‘My dad’s working the night shift again tomorrow.’

He could wait, just not too long.


End file.
